Forced Confessions

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: At the end of a spring-time mingle party, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. unleashes a psychic weapon that forces characters to confess their secrets to one another. Check out the mod announcement for more information.
Date(s): First 2 weeks of April 2018
Warnings/Notes: Psychic influence/coercion, potential trauma, etc. in confessions. Please use subject header warnings appropriately!

Forced Confessions Event

I admit I'm on the rebound And I don't care

Five-Day Party

It begins with a party, out in the woods of Xistentia, with drinks, food, and fairy lights. The glade is illuminated in a brilliant palette of jewel tones, the most intense where the dancefloor stretches out between glow-in-the-dark marked trees, punctuated by F.A.T.E.S.' ever jarring, mismatched combination of musical tunes. Not far from that, you have enclosures of soft bedding set aside in mood-lit shadows, and veiled by mosquito net, for those of us who prefer more privacy.

The deeper nightclub colors fade to a warm, lustrous gold where there are spaces to sit, socialize, and eat.
Dining options feature treats from across the multiverse, including spice candy that will make your tongue feel just the faintest touch of a sting, native meats prepared with sauces and salts, and a variety of fruit and vegetables, some of which have a bioluminescent glow. Some of the wines are strong enough to knock a werewolf's metabolism on its ass— and these are marked with an audio sign, repeating the same warning over and over.

Other liquid refreshments include a blood bar, courtesy of Rafaello d'Este's local business.

Psychic Bomb: The Confessions (April 5-14)

But on the fifth evening, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. strikes. There's a warning— only 10 minutes in advance-- over the network, even while the vast majority of revelers are a little too busy to pay any attention to their daemons.

A black ball of some writhing, metallic substance abruptly comes tearing through the atmosphere, the size of your average adult human curled into fetal position. As it breaks through layers of gas, it adopts an orange glow for a brief instant. It's easily lost in the canopy, even for the most agile and practiced of Xistentia residents. It's impossible to tell what it is. A faint whine fills the air, and a moment later, the projectile detonates. The scent of tar fills the forest along with shouts of dismay. And too little too late, F.A.T.E.S. warning system begins to blare that a contaminant has entered the atmosphere.

However, apart from a few bruises, panic and partial deafness, nobody seems harmed at all. That is, until the compulsion sets in.

Your secrets, both large and small, suddenly become wrenching fodder for impulsive speech... or signing, texting, any multitude of communication methods wind up hijacked. The worst of it comes when you face someone you know and love. Sheer willpower might stave off the urge long enough for your character to get out of range for conversation, and it might be a good time to avoid company for awhile. It will come randomly, in spikes, for 2 weeks to follow.

Feel free to use the confessions thread here to start some textspam trouble!

Bomb Resolution (April 12+)

A week later, F.A.T.E.S. and both magic and science-minded researchers have analyzed the goop. The worst of the epidemic is localized around the party, though psychic ripples continue to be felt across Xistentia for a few days.

And now we need cleanup.

It's a motley group of unlikely volunteers. Some people are just lucky— they have no secrets they fear to share, or perhaps just no shame. Others are just good samaritans, willing to risk a terrifying level of honesty in the interest of preventing further damage to the relationships that make Xistentia run.

In any case, the group finds themselves armed with gloves, rubber suits, and floating glass containment orbs, manipulable with gestures, that can absorb the black ichor off the trees, earth, and furniture. This will be stored at the temple. And what we'll do with it—

Who knows. Or perhaps you and your compatriots have an idea for the substance permanent disposal to share.

Comments

[dothelokimotion]

[ The truth effect is still honey on his tongue, syrupy-sweet. He can't fully force it down, though Loki can feel it waning, can feel his will straining against it with all his might. Loki burrows himself closer to Thor, feeling the warmth creep up his arm like goosebumps. Loki huffs against Thor's skin. ]

I cannot believe I am more stubborn than you.

[drapes]

[ pleased and comfortable with his brother's closeness, thor tucks an arm under Loki's neck, and hooks another around his waist to splay his hand at his back and tug him closer into his chest. ]

You are stubborn as a boar when you want to be. I have the knife scars to prove it.

[ Thor tells him, and Loki can likely feel the vibrations from his throat as he speaks, his check sat on top of Loki's hair. ]

[dothelokimotion]

You were a useful target.

[ But he lets out a faint yawn, used to the reverberations under him. They used to do this when they were children and even long past, during late nights and hunts. His eyelashes flutter, a thin line of forest green peeking out from under it. ]

And you never minded before. It's as if you knew you were protecting me from myself.

[drapes]

[ Thor stretches his back for a second, letting out a soft, barely there laugh, before relaxing into a position he plans to keep for a while, snuggled up to his brother, his body remembering it from hundreds and thousands of years with him. ]

Ah, it never hurt that much, and being angry enough to stab me meant you still cared, so. [ which is weirdly transparent, and Thor frowns for a moment, before moving on. he's never been particularly guarded anyway, so this confessions nonsense isn't as dramatic an effect with him. ]

How do you mean? [ protecting him from himself. though he's neither confirming or denying loki's guess. ]

[dothelokimotion]

Hating Asgard, father, you . . . [ Loki chuckles. ] It was so small, compared to the way I hated myself.

[drapes]

[ pulling his (still blue) face back some, thor looks down trying to catch loki's eyes, spotting the hints of green there and smiling down at him, hand touching softly at his brother's cheek. yes, he'd known that part, sadly. ]

I'd guessed as much. [ they didn't Talk about these things so implicitly, pride not a flaw only thor possessed. loki had always been guarded with his personal troubles, and thor had learned not to push him. if he wanted him to know, he'd make it clear to him. or, so he'd thought, back then. ] I never figured out how to help free you from that.

A puncture wound here and there couldn't have hurt, though. [ so, yes, maybe, it was partly that. if it meant loki letting off some steam somewhere thor could still see and touch and hear him, he could live with it. better than him running off somewhere to get his head all into a mess on his own. ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ The colours were slowly washing away. Loki is starting to feel the inkling of fear and shame mingle together. Thor was the only one looking blue now. Loki should lift the illusion, move. Bring the walls back up.

He does none of those things. ]

You couldn't.

[drapes]

[ thor hardly minds the blue, and clearly isn't in any rush to get rid of it, just as comfortable in this skin as he is in his own, but that is simply his nature. he'd never lacked in self-confidence the way loki had. his flaws rested in other areas of his life and personality. ]

Perhaps. But I could try. [ one of such flaws - believing he should be capable of anything, that it's his responsibility to fix all things, to protect all things, to conquer all things. if not him, then who? ] How could I be your brother, and love you, and not try?

[ just compulsion at that point, really. he'd always been looking over Loki's shoulder to protect him, but even in that, he'd failed in the end. ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki reaches to touch two fingers to Thor's temple, letting the blue wash away. ]

It doesn't work that way, Thor. You can't take it all upon yourself.

[ He rests his arms on Thor's chest, propping his chin up. ]

If you had, I would have resented you forever.

[drapes]

[ thor frowns, glancing down at his chest to see the blue ebbing away, looking disappointed. he was having fun with that, but he doesn't make a fuss for it. there's more important topics being touched on at the moment.

he watches him with a small tint of sadness in his eyes, but only for the pain loki had to suffer alone, not what they are now. his thumb strokes against loki's cheek, fond. ]

And now? Do you still feel that way?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki smiles faintly, bittersweet. ]

Not so much. Not anymore.

[drapes]

[ thor's thumb traces over the curve of loki's smile, running along his lower lip idly. he's known the look of bittersweet on him far too often, but of late, he's seen more of the smiles he remembers from his childhood. they'll never be the same as they were, but perhaps they'll become something even better, now. ]

Good. Because I tend to want to throttle people that don't like you much.

[ literally still wanted to strangle the avengers for calling loki nuts after he'd already gone foreign eye-ball thieving invader on them. his hand pushes into Loki's hair, scratching against his scalp with a warm smile. ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki purrs, leaning into that touch. ]

It doesn't take much, with you.

[ Though it feels like liquid gold in his veins, to hear that. But Loki has always known Thor was protective. Thor had always been his protector, until things changed. Until Loki resented the role he was pushed in. ]

[drapes]

[ Loki looks like a contented cat resting on his chest, and Thor smiles down at him, petting back his hair and massaging here and there, happy to watch him relax. ]

I have actually gotten much better about that in the past several years. [ be proud of him. ]

You just wouldn't know, seeing as you've only been around when the really throttle-worthy people show up.

[ this category has occasionally included you. but let's be real, you were being a serious bitch at the time(s). ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki shrugs loosely. ]

There is a lot I didn't know.

[drapes]

You aren't the only one.

[ the mood turns a bit somber, smile a little more sad, as thor's fingers tuck stray dark strands behind loki's ears. there's a huge expanse of time that loki was lost to the cosmos, in dark and terrible places, twisted and abused, that he came back from broken. all this time thor knows nothing about, and he'd give anything to have been there with him for it. he'd have followed him right off the edge of the bridge. ]

But, we've no shortage of time here. No worlds ending or psychotic new sisters taking all our favorite toys. [ they'll get to it. whenever they're ready. ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki smiles wanly. He doesn't believe it and he probably never will. A certain amount of destruction and disaster follows Loki's footsteps. Not all of it can be laid at the feet of his lineage or bloodline. If Thor believes it, then Loki will let him. He doesn't see the need to tear it down. But Loki is now familiar with the finite as well as the infinity. They war within him, but he understands them.

Time always runs out. ]

What toys? She only took your things.

[drapes]

[ ever the optimist, because someone in this family has to be, especially considering 'this family' is now just the two of them. it's fine, thor's happy to be that person for the both of them. as for hela, wow, he knows he wasn't the only one annoyed at her everything. ]

The throne? Your favorite word? [ 'kneel' ] Your color scheme?

[ black leather and green, don't even deny it, booboo. ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki flinches at that. Hela's demeanor, her knife-sharp manner and desires had cut themselves on Loki, even though he never fully shared words with her. With Odin gone, Loki will never know how much of it was him or Odin's machinations, turning Loki into his next executioner. Or stopped because Loki never showed that kind of bloodlust and relegated him to pawn, a bridge between worlds, to shoulder the weight of his mistakes. His eyes shutter, good mood slipping away. ]

I suppose that makes you the adopted one.

[drapes]

Or how about we both be adopted, and let dad claim Hela on his own. [ does thor still love his father, sure, but is he also still bitter about the whole hela thing? you bet your ass he is. lies keep tumbling out, but she'd broken through most of them to shove in both their faces. it'll take some time to put those behind him, and he doubts loki will manage it in any kind of time. ] Mom probably found us both in a box and took us home.

[ like stranded kittens. he knows that isn't the case (probably), but their actual bloodline means so little to thor that it may as well be. loki is his brother more than anyone sharing his genes ever could be, and given that, he watches loki's features shift, and knows what's going through his head behind those eyes, at least in a vague sense. ]

Hey. Things about her shook both of us. [ thor tells him quietly, hands on his cheeks, leaning up enough to press a kiss to his forehead. the biggest hit for him was all odin told him about worthiness, about his legacy, mjolnir, peace over war, so many lies thor'd constructed his entire person around and where does it leave him now? ] Who we are from here on is our own creation.

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki sighs, a cool puff of air against Thor's skin, his eyelashes fluttering, fragile like dusty butterfly wings. He had long parted from Asgard emotionally. Even though he played as their game, it was his little joke. His small victory. He didn't expect it to last, to be honest. He was sure Odin or Thor would come, cast him out and it would begin all over again. The cycle of tricksters and gods, of monsters and men. He sought for an end so badly and was constantly denied one

His eyes flare briefly, scaled green. ]

What does that make us, Thor? What are we, truly?

[drapes]

Brothers.

[ Always, no matter what changes they go through, what they win back or lose in the process, Loki will always be, first and foremost, Thor's beloved brother. His family. What more are they beyond that, individually? Well, it's hard to say just yet. Princes still, he supposes. It's so difficult to think of himself as King, when he's going to be so heavily reliant on Loki, Heimdal and Valkyrie to help him guide the people.

What are they to each other? Too many things to name. ]

What do you want us to be?

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki already has his answer. He always had his answer, even when the backdrop changes. When suns flee the skies, when worlds crumble, Loki's answer would not change. It is the only certainty he carries, a single seed in a garden of poisoned dreams. He reaches out, cupping Thor's face with the smallest hint of tenderness, so light it might just shatter like a dream on an eyelid. ]

Equals. I wanted us to be equals.

[drapes]

Equals.

[ tbor's kneejerk reaction is to want to tell him 'that's all we've ever been in my eyes', but he knows even he is guilty of that one. He'd been a nightmares of a brother when they came into their own, obsessed with his own glory, his stance as king to be, and assured that Loki, his loyal little brother would ever be there at his side, ever content to follow his lead, even into the depths of Hel.

He contributed to Loki's descent plenty in his own right. So, it's with a deep sincerity that he answers, raising his hand to cover the back of his brother's against his cheek. ]

I swear it. Equals, in everything.

[dothelokimotion]

[ This should feel like a victory. Like a landslide that Loki has always watched from a distance. Just cave a little, let him in. But after Asgard, after Hela, it feels different. Loki has changed and changed again. His nature is changeling, shifting from state to state, physically, mentally and emotionally. Adaptable and quicksilver.

What should he feel?

What is Loki now?

Tamed is the word on his tongue. ]

You shouldn't swear it so easily. You shouldn't — You shouldn't do that.